As you may know, one of my doctorates is in Literature with the second in Theology that fortunately meld themselves with historic Philosophy, Anthropology, all history, and all that are considered “sacred” texts from around the world. I was always the kid who asked the question “why,” and now am the adult that does the same. Every bit of research I do, every sermon I write, I always ask myself a series of “what” and “why” questions. Number one, why God? This “why” q

Let’s kick this off with my stating that I am NEVER ashamed of Jesus and what He did for me, the words He spoke and speaks to me through the Scripture, and I will use every ounce of my study, intellect, energy, all measures of polemics to perpetuate my position as I have been called and commanded by God. Perhaps other clergy are cowards in the pulpit, remember, they want that money, control, and power, or I am truly a geriatric barbarian as my wife enjoys taunting me, or a r

The church body is a reflection of the world—both good and bad—from the pew as well as the pulpit. I would define my role in life, and it has been for as long as I have been alive, taught to me by an amazing set of parents, and that role is AGGRESSIVE INTOLERANCE. However, both Jesus and Paul tell us that we are supposed to be separate from the world, yet Satan owns the world and uses it to gain access and establish a foothold into the church. I have been watching the deba

The psychology of victimology fascinates me, the study of “micro-aggressions” to perpetuate this false cult, the theories of oppression and lack of freedom through Christ essentially denounce the faith. For example, if white supremacy is stopping people of color from succeeding, then how have so many people of color succeeded? My mentor is a black pastor on the north side. I seek him out for counsel and certainly did NOTHING to prop into this lauded position. Were they ju

My intent is to isolate the pathos from the logos in my topics. Now remember, I am my own man. No denomination but a devout Christian as I believe faith and belief is a DEEPLY personal issue. No political party—can’t stand government or controlling institutions. And, yes, I have questioned the “science” since I got thrown out of my first Darwin evolution class in the 10th grade—my parents made me curious and dad was proud of me when he picked me up. The Psycholo

Personally, I think this is a great historical and analytical starting line for thought and an intellectually curious endeavor. You see, Christianity had an “enlightenment” through Jesus the Son of God that ties conveniently under our principles of freedom of the individual given to us only by God and nothing manmade. Clearly, the American revolution stems from the Bible. Just read the notes, letters, and writings of our founding fathers. The French revolution came from e

As a pastor I look out at my congregation each Sunday after exhaustingly studying a portion of text that I think will matter to the people in their personal alignment with God and His perfect will. There are times when I believe that I have really hit the nail on the head and I look out and see people dozing, people on their phones, chatting with each other, teens cavorting and punching one another, and others slouched down in intense boredom. I feel like a grade school mat

Psychology, like brain chemistry, are two of the most nascent sciences compared to other brands of medicine. I don’t know how many times I’ve been told, “We just don’t know—we only know you have severe Traumatic Brain Injury.” Yet, for psychology and psychiatry, neither of these solve anything, yet cost billions (if not more) in treatment and mind-altering SSRI’s each year. Please allow me to give you some Biblical teachings that psychology has NOT caught up with. I

I have never shied away from a good donny-brook or debate. If the debate goes ad hominem or overly sarcastic (as I never wish to crush anyone in retaliation with my rapier wit and scalding intellect) I back away as I have no respect for those conditions and I have serious boundaries. The weapons of my mind, body, and spirit are always in Condition 1…locked, loaded and ready. I love God, my calling, my wife, my life and my Constitutional republic nation so immensely that I

I am a nerd. I look at everything through the lens of I have a ton of pure-hearted friends with great intentions…really solid, and hard-working people who are curious about faith. The question and concern comes down to “am I really saved?” and “What religion or ism should I follow?” Being the curious man I am, I ask “why”? They always come back with their struggle with sin, to be set free from thoughts, and the desire to walk like Jesus as we discuss on Sunday mornings.

SATAN IS THE FATHER OF ALL LIES—words from Jesus in John 8:44. This one really gets me. False teachers, false doctrine, false theology, and false picking and choosing from the Scripture—the stuff I see. We see it on social media every day and from the pulpit every Sunday. Politicians twist the law and the Constitution and it just seems to transcend normally from the pulpit. This toxic suicidal empathy, tolerance to sin, and false Christian compassion. Whoever is spewing

I have some very dear friends who belong to a wide variety of denominations, creeds, branches of philosophical thought, etc., whatever you want to call these so-called Christian dogmas or other. I also have dear friends who are Buddhist, Hindu, Mormon, Catholic, and assorted to what I would refer to as “cults” from a pure Scriptural perspective. So, if I am to define the word “cult” I go to a detailed definition. A “cult” is a political or religious group or moveme

Linguistics has always been fascinating to me. I remember taking French in the 4th grade, why it was offered, I do not know, but certainly got a kick out of it. I learned common phrases and the alphabet—clearly a foundational approach to education. I had sufficient limited knowledge that I remember after a long Friday evening piano lesson listening to my mother talk at length with my piano teacher and I just wanted to go home. Thus, in my youth, I simply translated the wo

I was thinking about this as I have witnessed it all too often. Sadly, or to my educational benefit, I have counseled more murderers, pedophiles, people who have done the most heinous crimes, even seen face-to-face as I watched my grown adult nephew sleep in the same bed with my sister, and seen the results of incest here in the project area. Sexual deviance is a mighty force of evil. Loving intimacy within the confines of a marriage is a powerful force—not for coercion bu

Linguistics has always been fascinating to me. I remember taking French in the 4th grade, why it was offered, I do not know, but certainly got a kick out of it. I learned common phrases and the alphabet—clearly a foundational approach to education. I had sufficient limited knowledge that I remember after a long Friday evening piano lesson listening to my mother talk at length with my piano teacher and I just wanted to go home. Thus, in my youth, I simply translated the wo

I draw ideas. I got a GREAT idea from an old war-horse friend of mine tonight about “the rented body” that God gave us. As my dad always said, better to wear out than rust out—that man and my mother worked their tails off and it killed them. I see a ton (no pun intended) of fat lazy Christians. Read Philippians and figure that concept out. This is very real—no “fat shaming” but just being being real according to Scripture. Identity politics and PC libtard nonsense don’t

I loathe and tire easily from contextual stupidity. I read every day that Jesus was a socialist, we have to take in foreigners, there are six different genders (well great, because that makes me better than four other ones—and I debate with my lovely wife on the fifth—although she can be crushing with her Scriptural wit and intellect), I’ve even heard from the rainbow-clad pulpits that God is non-binary, and a host of other Biblical ignorance and it offends me to how stupid

“A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.”(Proverbs 22:1) Hello, my friend… Today I want to share with you for the next few minutes how important it is for us to have a good reputation – a good name. Like it or not, your name often goes before you. Think about it. Whom do you know that comes from what some call a “bad” family? You know, the town ruffians, the drug dealers, the drunks, the family from the so

Heart surgery went very well, thank God. Doctor Yurovich my cardiologist here at Blessing Hospital in Quincy, Illinois had amazing bedside manner, was attentive, and kept me informed the entire time. I tried to joke around with him as that is my way of coping with the unknown, but being a stoic Russian I have a feeling that his joy may be listening to Rachmaninov while reading Solzhenitsyn’s “Gulag Archipelago” over a hot bowl of borsch—he never got any of my jokes and just

I get a ton of complaints about being un-Christian and too confrontational. Quite frankly, this pleases me in that it is proof that I am doing what God directs me in the Scripture. Today’s modern Christians have errantly been taught that confronting error is dangerous as some false sense of tolerance is the only acceptable Christian trait or characteristic. I simply ask these people to read their Bible and see how surprisingly uneducated their statement is. Histo